InTouch with Southern Kentucky June 2020 | Page 34

The first 3rd Friday Folk first
performance was in March of 2015
and featured Lexington folksinger,
Robert Tincher, and Somerset’s
June Burton.
“We’re now in our sixth year, and
have developed a loyal audience
who has come to expect quality
performance from great musicians,”
said LaMay. “... Our mission is to
feature professional travelling
folk musicians from all over the
country and team them up with
local and regional musicians. We’ve
had musicians from as far away as
Oregon, Chicago, New York, North
and South Carolina, Michigan, Ohio,
and one duo from California and
Ireland.”
Said Reese, “We have met these
musicians over the years as we
travel around making music at
festivals, etc. Some of them are
friends from way back, and some
we have met through the 3rd Friday
Folk connection. We get requests
from musicians from all over the
country who are interested in
coming to Somerset to perform.
3rd Friday Folk has a good national
reputation.”
The COVID-19 situation, which
resulted in governments ordering
gatherings to be limited and events
to be canceled, postponed, or
reimagined, hit 3rd Friday Folk
like everything else. LaMay and
Reese said they’re “uncertain when
(they’ll) feel confident enough
to ask folks to gather in such an
intimate setting again.” They do
plan to resume “sometime down
the road,” but until then, they’re
hosting the monthly performances
as “Facebook concerts” from
the Carnegie basement with no
audience. The first was on Friday,
May 15, featuring The Daltons,
as well as LaMay and Reese
themselves.
The two appreciate each other
deeply, both as a couple and as
fellow musicians. They have the
same taste in music, and both write
songs, but LaMay recalled a review
of their first concert as one of their
favorites, saying that not only do
they sound good together, they look
good together too.
“Joe has such a musical history
in his head and hands,” said Reese.
“His vocals lend themselves to
my harmony style. His rhythm
is flawless and we do generally
have the same taste. Neither of us
perform a song unless we love it.”
As for LaMay, the best part
of performing together is “the
harmony between Sherri and I. It
was a stroke of luck that I met her
back in 1998.
“Sherri comes from a musical family.
Her father played bluegrass and classic
country all his life and passed the
gene down to his daughter. For that I
am eternally grateful,” he added. “...
She’s a great singer and harmonizer
and really puts herself into every song
we perform. The fact that she taught
herself the banjo as part of our duo is a
blessing.”
Jerry Cox
Race for Circuit Judge
Lincoln • Pulaski • Rockcastle
• Berea College graduate.
• University of Kentucky School of Law graduate.
• Veteran of the Vietnam War.
• Admitted to the United States Supreme Court as well as all
lower courts and all state courts
• Past President of The National Assoc. of Criminal Defence
Lawyers, The Ky. Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
and the Ky. Bar Foundation
Past Chairman of the Lake Cumberand District Health Department,
and Rockcastle County District Health Department
Jerry and Vicki Cox have been married for over 53 years and have
3 sons: Dr. Doug Cox, Dane Cox and Aaron Cox
Paid for by Jerry Cox
34 • In Touch with Southern Kentucky June 2020